Fake Gun Creates Real Panic at TV Shoot

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – David Lubin was only trying to shoot a segment for a television show. But police were concerned that another type of shooting altogether might occur when they took Lubin down at a San Francisco filming location Wednesday.

Lubin was overpowered by police officers after refusing to drop a fake gun while filming a robbery scene for a TV series, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

The San Francisco Police Department confirmed the incident to TheWrap, but not the name of the man involved; the spokesperson said no arrests were made.

Police responded to a 911 call placed by a resident who saw the man with a gun at the Alpha Market in the Cole Valley neighborhood. Lubin, who was wearing a ski mask at the time, was ordered to drop the weapon but didn’t respond to the warning. Police, unaware that it was a bogus weapon, then overtook and disarmed him.

According to police, the production company Duo Creative Communications had secured the proper permits for the shoot. The scare was in stark contrast to the spirit of the shoot, which was intended to be a lighthearted bit for a series called “World’s Most Interesting Footage,” Duo Creative filming coordinator Yasmine Yoshida told the Chronicle.

“We were shooting about a stupid crime — a little segment people can laugh about,” Yoshida said. “It’s supposed to be funny, but all of a sudden it wasn’t funny at all.”

According to Yoshida, Duo Creative had filmed at the location each month for the past year. “World’s Most Interesting Footage” is shot in San Francisco but airs in Japan, after being overdubbed in Japanese.